Afew days ago I came back from MLOVE Berlin, the “TED” of mobile conferences. A few hundred participants came together to discuss the future of mobile — in an amazingly beautiful castle, no less. The attendees come from a variety of backgrounds, but all share one important thing in common: They are impassioned leaders and trendsetters in the mobile space. This ConFestival is a place where inspiration flows freely and young visionaries discuss the potential of the mobile industry in today’s world and the future.
MLOVE has a special informal and playful atmosphere where ideas and conversations simply flow between people. The fact that it takes place in one castle with a limited number of attendees enables everyone to get to know one another on a closer basis than at your usual conference. Everyone’s very supportive of one another. I can attest that I have formed many great friendships at MLOVE with people from around the world.
While the program has great keynote speakers and panels, the conference’s highly interactive visually oriented workshops add a new element to the mix, making it one of the exceptional places for mobile minds to meet. It also makes sure to build in open spaces for participants to converse about their mobile passions and learn from each other’s experiences.
By bringing in the best and the brightest both inside and outside of the industry, MLOVE capitalizes on infusing new ideas into the mobile space. This year there were speakers from Facebook, Nike Foundation, Nokia, AT&T, Ars Electronica, HopeLab and many more.
I was asked to speak on the Brands & Mobility panel with Urvi Bhandari from AT&T, Senem Ozturk from Turkcell and Julia Von Winterfeldt from AKQA. We discussed how the future vision of mobile will change how brands communicate and how these changes will play into our daily lives.
The highlight for me was MLOVE’s European Startup Barn Competition. I sat on the judging panel with other veteran mobile influencers. Competing were a few highly promising startups that blew me away, such as Has Offers, StyleLand and SmokePhone. My favorite was SmokePhone, a service that enables users to get disposable mobile numbers.
MLOVE was, as always, unforgettable. In MLOVE tradition, we had a White Night dinner and soiree on Thursday night, a night where everyone wears white. We also experienced the amazing light show that’s featured every year on the castle itself:
I played piano with one of the first developers of the World Wide Web, and I had the most interesting conversations with some of the best minds in the industry. There is so much to be gained from the great people who participate, allowing the true inspiration of mobile to shine through. My love for MLOVE grows each year and I can’t wait to come back to Berlin next year!Ayelet Noff is a partner in Socialmedia.biz and founder and Co-CEO of Blonde 2.0, an award winning digital PR agency with branches in Boston and Tel Aviv. Contact Ayelet via The Blonde 2.0 website , email, or follow her on Twitter and Google Plus.
Ayelet,
You seem to have had a wonderful time there.
I recall Berlin very fondly (although I visited the city before 1989)
One spicy detail – I like blondes better, normally, but I recall the most beautiful girl I remember was a brunette though :)
Cheers,
~Steve
P.S. That piano session must have been quite an accomplishment. Kudos!